School Uniforms

[Cathy McCaughan]

Austin East and Fulton High are going to have dress codes beginning this fall. It hasn't been said how uniforms will be provided for students with fee waivers and free lunches. If you read the comments on the KnoxNews site, it reads like our high schools are filled with students dressed like thugs and hoochies. While I agree that there are some distracting outfits, most of the high schoolers that I see are in jeans and flip-flops. I disagree that uniforms will cost anyone more or less than regular clothing. I attended the only private school in Memphis that didn't require a uniform (we just had strict clothing RULES), so I understand the feeling of freedom of choice as well as the feeling of belonging and identity attached to uniforms. I don't care if my children's schools adapt uniforms or not. My children will care though. The only thing that I disagree with is the color coding of students based on choice of study of class year. If you are going to do uniforms, make it a school-wide uniform.

[Pamela Treacy]

Good point about the schools always being TOO cold in the hot months. One year, my daughter wore a sweatshirt during the day because her room was so cold.

[lindaps]

This is from the Austin-East website. They also have photo's showing examples of the code - helpful to parents, no excuse for students.



Dress Code: Campus Gear


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The new school year is rapidly approaching. This is an exciting time of change at Austin-East High School. As part of this change, we have instituted standardized dress. We are calling our school dress - Campus Gear. The following are the expectations for our students’ dress this fall.

All students are expected to wear a collared shirt (shirts may be short sleeved or long sleeved) of one of the following school colors –
Red White

Black Columbia Blue

All students are expected to wear either khaki or black pants – the length of pants include full length pants, knee-length shorts or skirts, and capris.
Pants must not sag below the waist and must not touch the floor.
All students are expected to tuck their shirt into their pants.
All students are expected to wear shoes that adhere to Knox County Schools’ Dress Code Policies.
Here is the official Knox County Schools Dress Policy for Students
Below you will find a picture displaying the new Austin-East Campus Gear. Feel free to contact us this summer with questions concerning Campus Gear. Thank you and enjoy your summer.

[lindaps]

Below is the Fulton website. Click on Professional Attire to review the dress code.

http://fultonhs.knoxschools.org

[Cathy McCaughan]

(begin sarcasm)
Why don't they just require all Knox County high school students to wear only black? It seems to be their preference anyway.
(end sarcasm)

[Ginevra]

http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-lopez23-2008jul23,0,472...

I just came across this information about Locke High School in Watts, Los Angeles. This school was out of control, with a very high dropout rate, and uncontrollable classrooms. There had actually been a riot there, and there was a lot of gang activity.

A joint effort by parents, the principal, and the teachers converted Locke to a "Green Dot" charter school. The article linked above is about the changes that have been made during summer school. One of the changes is that they have a strictly-enforced dress code, but there are many others.

This is a description of what the school was like before:

"While Cubias is escorting me across campus, he suddenly stops and points to something that can't be seen.

"Serenity," he says.

That's something new. Teachers are letting students out for brief breaks, but the uniformed kids are orderly and quiet. Teacher Tobin Paap says this is a dramatic difference from his Locke teaching experience from 1999 to 2001, after which he left the profession, burned out and demoralized.

"I felt like it was at the height of the craziness," says Paap, 34, who briefly went home to Boston to work for a suburban YMCA. He needed to decompress after the madness at Locke.

"There were hundreds of ditched kids who'd hang out. They'd sit right here," he says, showing me the ramp to the bungalow that was his classroom back then. "They smoked weed, played radios, spray-painted the walls and climbed on the roof."

I figure he's kidding, or at least exaggerating.

Not in the least, Paap says. He documented and reported all of it, but nothing ever happened to the young thugs.

I don't think that Austin-East has ever been this bad, but if we want to retain teachers over many years, and educate our children in a safe, orderly environment -- let's do whatever works.

Here's another report, from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17307569

[Debi]

Ya know, you act how you dress. It's psychological. Don't you all feel more professional when you're in business/church attire vs. sweat pants & t-shirts?

[Roxy Hodge]

Yes I do, but I don't need the government telling me to do so. The "campus gear" looks nice, maybe easier for children to dress in the mornings, and if it helps some families great, but life is not equal and fair & I would hope that if the kids gain some self respect out of this it stays with them & THEY choose to look professional. Schools are not equal, teachers, employers, students, employees, places we shop, everything has competition & levels to meet or fail. I do not want to start cloning, rubber stamping our children to fit an all inclusive society, & there are programs already doing this. This is not personal with me, my school has not been mandated to do this yet, but if someone does not speak up for others, what happens when you are affected and no one cares because it doesn't involve them?